1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to devices which provide non-surgical aid to help males with erectile dysfunction accomplish sexual intercourse.
2. Description of Prior Art
Prior art reveals numerous and highly varied attempts to equip men with erectile dysfunction for overcoming their inability to achieve and maintain a satisfactory erection necessary for completion of coitis. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,446,206, 4,869,241, 5,246,015, and 5,336,157 illustrate the wide variety of such inventions. Their wide variety also seems to imply how difficult it has been to produce one practical, non-surgical invention with something resembling common acceptance because of its easy application and comfortable, gratifying success for both partners during sexual intercourse.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,246,015 and 5,336,157 are two different types of clamps designed to be visibly worn over the base of the penis for exerting pressure on penile veins, thus limiting the outflow of blood in order to create and maintain an erection.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,246,015 prevents venous leakage when wearing on the base of the penis a short, snugly fitting, external tube which acts to stimulate an erection when the proximal end of the tube touches the cruer of the penis. Presumably penile blood flow is normal and the rigid tube controls blood outflow by venous compression at the base of the penis as the penis becomes erect.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,336,157 is an adjustable clamp of two hinged rods or "legs" which visibly straddle the base of the penis. Elastic bands wound around a bendable hinge are used to compress and control pressure on both sides of an erect penis, thus retarding venous outflow of blood.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,446,206 is a complicated splint when compared to clamps, having external as well as internal (urethral) components. A support ring at the base of the penis, a penile-length rod which runs underneath the length of the penis, and a rubber-band loop, attached to the rod and looped over the glans penis are parts worn externally on the penis during intercourse. It is a highly visible splint which no doubt clouds the pleasurable act of sexual intercourse by its obvious reminder of necessary therapy.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,869,241 is a penile-length splint in the form of a hollow tube open at both ends for the passage of body fluid and made to be kept partly in the male urethra. The tube's depth of insertion is limited by a plastic cap which fits over the face of the glans penis and is affixed permanently to the distal end of the tube. When used, the tube is inserted into the urethra until stopped by the plastic cap. A condom-like sleeve attached to the rim of the plastic cap is then unrolled over the penis as one would unroll a condom. Another embodiment would rely on an off-the-shelf condom to hold the inserted splint in place. Although seemingly practical and promising in its simplicity, the splint has the serious flaw of significantly covering the face of the glans penis, the most sensitive part of male sexual anatomy. A more serious problem inherent in this splint is its lack of a reliable, secure "lock-in" feature. The invention relies on a plastic cap to keep the semi-rigid splint from entering the urethra too deeply, but it clearly lacks a safe, dependable means to insure that the splint does not protrude from the urethra while in use and thus cause at least alarm and possibly injury to one or both partners. Relying on a condom-like sleeve or an off-the-shelf condom to prevent the splint's emergence during intercourse would be extremely risky. Condoms have been known to break, to slip, and even to slip off during intercourse.
The patents briefly summarized illustrate typical features of non-surgical aids for erectile dysfunction. They clearly interfere with the normal pleasure of intercourse by shortening penile length or significantly desensitizing sexual activity. Male pride and pleasure in making love are closely tied to penile length and the keen sensation of tactile excitement. Although common clamps and splints may be partly effective in enabling some men with erectile dysfunction to attempt normal sexual activity, their unfortunate designs which shorten penile length, their external locations on male anatomy, and their obvious visibility and tactile discomfort cannot but diminish the pride and gratification of sexual fulfillment for both partners. In addition, conspicuous appliances are known to make a woman partner somewhat less than happy because a female partner likes to believe that she is herself appealing enough for male sexual responses. External appliances or parts of appliances can easily be a "turn-off" by making a woman partner feel inadequate.
Since the 1970's there has been an accelerated pace to solve the problems of erectile dysfunction: clasps, splints, vacuum pumps with constriction rings, expensive surgical implants of many designs, pharmacological injections, urethral pellets, and most recently an oral pill containing sildenafil. Side-effects, mechanical failures, injuries, serious infections, irreversible procedures, corrective surgery, and frequently costs in the thousands of dollars are examples of the many difficulties associated with these attempts to restore sexual activity for males suffering with erectile dysfunction.
When one considers the limitless variations of human behavior during sexual intercourse, from adolescence to superannuation, and in various conditions of sobriety to all types of altered consciousness, available non-surgical aids for erectile dysfunction are very cumbersome, psychologically distracting, uncomfortably impractical, and possibly injurious. There is, clearly, a pressing need for a greatly improved non-surgical penile prosthesis. Such an invention should be quickly inserted and removed, completely invisible, and in no tactile way an interference with the psychological and physical pleasure of a joyful and fulfilling sexual experience for both partners, one which is always free of delay, free of failure, and free of side-effects and injuries.